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The Dissident Politics in Václav Havel's Van¿k Plays: Who Is Ferdinand Van¿k Anyway focuses on Ferdinand Van¿k, a semi-autobiographical character created by Václav Havel and featured in a series of nine plays written by Havel himself and three other dissident writers - Pavel Kohout, Pavel Landovský, and Ji¿í Dienstbier. By exploring the 'Van¿k experience,' Carol Strong details a multi-episodic, absurdist journey that provides an 'insider's view' of the challenges facing those daring enough to question the status quo, a view that remains relevant today. Strong's contention is that the lines found in these plays served as a 'secret language' of dissent in Cold War Czechoslovakia, which called the citizenry to contemplate the need for societal reform. As the plays were written at a time when the work of Havel and other dissidents were banned, the plays were never performed publicly, but through clandestine living room performances and the sharing of samizdat scripts the plays found an audience. Select phrases were indeed whispered throughout underground networks and helped forge a sense of oppositional solidarity among potential activists. Strong's argument is that the 'Van¿k experience' metaphorically highlights how official power mechanisms are among the least insidious forms of societal power, as the state must follow predictable patterns of legal jurisprudence. By contrast, non-governmental forms of power - as exercised by one's fellow citizens through informal social channels - can challenge oppositional actors more because of the personal tone they adopt. Using this approach, Strong presents a timelessly relevant critique of modern society with its consumerist / conformist tendencies.
List of contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Act I, Scene I Havel's Van¿k Trilogy: The Plight of a Social Dissident
Chapter 2: Act I, Scene II Havel's Van¿k Play Protest: Locating the Spark of Social Change
Chapter 3: Act II, Scene 1 And Now, A Word from Pavel Kohout: An Alternative Face of Van¿k
Chapter 4: Act II, Scene II And Now, A Word from Pavel Landovský: Yet Another Face ofVan¿k
Chapter 5: Part II, Act III And Now, A Word from Ji¿í Dienstbier: A Van¿k Sequel
Chapter 6: Post-Performance Panel Discussion Meet the Authors: Confronting the Many Faces ofVan¿k
Conclusion: Who is Ferdinand Van¿k Anyway?
About the author
Carol Strong is Professor of Political Science at the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM). After completing her B.A. at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville, U.S.A.).
